#TheFeministsAreComing To RSA 2018

Believe it or not, the Rhetoric Society of America's 50th anniversary conference is next week! That means it's time to dust off the conference duds, finish those talks, and fire up the social media accounts.

Two years ago at #RSA16 we held the happiest of happy hours, and we celebrated our new nomenclature. This time, the program boasts more than 100 sessions with feminist perspectives, including presentations on sex, gender, and sexuality in conjunction with all aspects of rhetorical studies. #TheFeministsAreComing all right.

If there's a downside to being legion, it's that we exceed the capacity of all the good gathering spots near the conference hotel. In lieu of a formal get together, then, we invite everyone to converge online and take part in the Coalition Check In.

#CFSHRC

How, you ask?

If you're attending the conference in person, use Twitter and Facebook to check in whenever you attend a feminist session or run into feminist friends. If you can't be in the Twin Cities in person, let us know from a distance you're online and following along. Whatever your location, when you post use Coalition Check In hashtags: #CFSHRC #RSA50 #TheFeministsAreComing.

Together, let's make our presence known and signal boost each other's contributions to the conference and our field. We hope that ya'll can use these check ins to find coalition members, start conversations, and even meet up for coffee, conversations, or happy hours in smaller groups. Let's also show up in droves on Friday, 6/1 at 5:45pm Central when Andrea Lunsford delivers her keynote address.

We look forward to seeing your shining faces in Minneapolis and online!

The Mary Tyler Moore statue on Nicollet Mall

Also, please take note: There's a bonus activity. We'll be collecting the selfies and group shots you take with Minneapolis's famous Mary Tyler Moore statue, which is located just a hat toss from the conference hotel at the corner of Nicollet Mall and 7th Avenue.

If you need an introduction to MTM or a quick refresher, Teen Voguecan help. If you're after scholarly context for either MTM herself or her television show, take a look at "Rhetorical Feminisms" by Karlyn Kohrs Campbell (Rhetoric Review 20.1/2) and "Image-Based Politics, Feminism, and the Consequences of their Convergence" by Shawn Perry-Giles (Critical Studies in Mass Communication 98.4).

If you would like to join the several colleagues who have volunteered to tweet the conference, let us know by emailing Trish Fancher at pfancher @ usb dot edu. We look forward to celebrating the past, building the future, and making the most of the present with everyone at #RSA50.